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Peace and Justice Activities
The following timeline and activities highlight the work of the Blessed Sacrament Peace and Justice Committee, since their inception in 2003.
2003
March 2003 - Nina attends Parish Council meeting, requesting that Blessed Sacrament form a parish membership with Pax Christi. The consensus of the Pastoral Council is that we develop our own Peace and Justice Committee, and avoid outside affiliations. Nina offers to chair.
July 2003 - Peace and Justice Committee attracts over 25 people.
August 2003 - Peace and Justice website is developed.
September 2003 - Peace and Justice Committee holds first meeting. The main focus is on introductions, issues of interest, and the direction our Peace and Justice Committee might take. We agree to focus primarily on education, and the social justice teachings of the church.
November 2003 - Peace and Justice Committee members, working with the University District Interfaith Advocates (UDIA), host a Town Meeting to address the issues of Homelessness, Hunger and Healthcare. The event is attended by over 100 people and seven State Representatives, to voice our concern about these crucial social issues. The Town Meeting helped to set the State, legislative agenda for 2004.
2004
January 2004 - First presentation on Pacem in Terris. Part One, historical biography on Pope John XXIII. Brian C. presented.
February 2004 - Second presentation on Pace in Terris. Part Two, discussing the Pacem in Terris Encyclical. Nina B. presented.
March 2004 - Committee members attend the JustFaith workshop sponsored by the Archdiocese. Group presents their workshop experience to parish staff and Pastoral Council Chair, and requests that the parish undertake the JustFaith program. It is agreed that we will do so, beginning in the Fall. Nina offers to facilitate. - March 21, 2006, Bernadette and Nina speak at all of the Masses on the social justice teachings of the church.
 April 2005 - Lorri and Marilyn encourage the Peace and Justice members to host a Fair Trade Coffee Presentation and Demo, which we hold in church courtyard after Mass. We brewed many different styles of Fair Trade Coffee for people leaving Mass, handed out flyers describing what Fair Trade Coffee is all about and where to buy it locally, and manage to collect $75 in donations, which we forwarded to the Catholic Relief Services Fair Trade Coffee Project.
June 2004 - Peace and Justice members watched the Frontline production: "Faith and Doubt at Ground Zero" together. Discussion. Many members signed letter of support for Grocery Workers strike.
August 2004 - Peace and Justice members host a Parish Coffee Hour, serving Fair Trade Coffee and letting folks know of the benefit Fair Trade products have on coffee workers and their families.
October 2004 - May 2005 - The Peace and Justice meetings are postponed, while members attend the JustFaith 30 week course on social justice.
2005
July 2005 - The JustFaith group (Justies) hold a post-JustFaith meeting, along with the "historical" members of the Peace and Justice Committee, and discuss their new directions. Many volunteer programs were explored through JustFaith, and members expand into new areas of activisim, volunteerism, and educational venues. Members meet with University District Interfaith Alliance (UDIA) Sanctuary Task Force, to discuss issues surrounding high school recruitment and the draft. Nina discusses the opportunity to bring a parish Pro-Life group into the Peace and Justice Committee, invites interested members to join. P&J members expand their activities into Prison Ministry, St. Vincent de Paul, Cabrini Ministries and Pan de Vida. Parish staff decide to present JustFaith for a second year, in 2005-2006, Jesson M. facilitates.
 August 2005 - Peace and Justice members unite with Pan de Vida volunteers to work at Matthew House, to install a new carpet and a linoleum floor for the kitchen. Located in Monroe, near the corrections facility, Matthew House provides emergency housing for inmates' family members, who are visiting their loved ones in prison. Matthew House provides shelter and childcare for visiting families. See photos here.
November 2005 - Peace and Justice members work with UDIA to present Holy C.O.W.!, a Conscientious Objector Workshop, at University Lutheran Church. Close to 100 people show up, mostly high-school aged students and their parents.
 December 2005 - Peace and Justice members host the Fair Trades Crafts Fair, which is a wonderful success. Nearly all items sold, and we were able to promote Fair Trades goods to parishioners, and explain why it is a good choice to purchase Fair Trades products. For Christmas, P&J's pool their funds and purchase a cow and a flock of chickens through Heifer International, a project that was coordinated by the ever-mootivated Bernadette P.
2006
January 2006 - Peace and Justice members solicit approval from the Pastoral Council, to make Blessed Sacrament Parish an endorser of the Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness, sponsored through the Church Council of Greater Seattle.
February-March 2006 - Annette T. directs book donations for Sojourner House, to stock libary for women in transition.
April-May-June 2006 - Hosted an ecumenical outreach Salon with other University District Faith Groups' Peace and Justice committees. Encouraged pastoral staff to speak out against torture, as a sin and crime against human dignity, in their Sunday homilies.
July-August 2006 - Hosted a bakesale which raised $2,500 for Mission Scholarships in Guatamala and in Mexico, and furthered the education of parishioners in Fair Trade products, such as coffee and chocolate.
September 2006 - Participated in Prayer for Peace day, with other University District congregations, on September 21. Processed with banners and prayers in 24 hour vigil. Organized pastoral volunteers for prayer and Mass celebration at a Seattle half-way house for paroled offenders. Attended (and hosted) ecumenical Peace and Justice Salon of University District congregations, set goals for future event planning and networking.
October 2006 - Presented on the topic of Child Sponsorship at the Adult Sunday School on October 16. Hosted Sponsorship Sunday on October 22/23, encouraging parishioners to sponsor a child through CFCA and other child sponsorship programs. Received 39 sponsorships! Permission granted from Parish Staff to distribute Catholic Alliance's practical voting guide entitled: Voting for the Common Good, a review of Catholic Social Teaching for the conscientious Catholic.
November-December 2006 - Welcomed St. Gianna Society into conversation, regarding life issues and focusing on an end to abortion. Encouraged members to donate to Heifer Foundation for 2006, to purchase a cow and chicks for third world communities. Assisted Pan de Vida in raising $1,700 for clothing and bedding supplies, for two orphanages in Mexico.
2007
January-February 2007 - Raised $900 for Heifer International . Collected and distributed winter clothing for Tent City 3. Acquired parish budget line for Peace and Justice activities. Attended White House Faith Based Initiative conference for federal funding assistance. Researching vendor booklets to sell or distribute to parish, which provide food distribution coupons for homeless / pan-handlers. We were successful in finding priest volunteers to serve Mass for half-way-house residents on Capitol Hill.
March-Apirl 2007 - Lorri gave Fair Trade Coffee presentation with video showing of: "Buyer Be Fair" for Adult Sunday School. - Perry and Larry gave Global Warming presentation with models and discussion and showing of video: "An Inconvenient Truth." Nina sat on "Forming a Catholic Conscience" panel of parishioners. Arranging next trip to Rancho Nazareth for Mexican Outreach: Pan de Vida, for June 1-4, 2007. Laura is taking lead on a prayer group, which meets each Wednesday for evening Mass at 5:30 PM, and prays specifically for peace in Iraq, reading a litany of names of our fallen soldiers, and Iraqi citizens. Coordinated a fund raising campaign for the building of a church in San Lucas Camotlan, Mexico, through Pan de Vida. St. Gianna attended the Archdiocese Junior High Rally for life and reported back a great deal of interest in life issues among the young students attending. Annette continues to stock library for Sojourner House.
May-June 2007 - War Weary Wednesday Prayer Group is formed, praying for peace in Iraq after the 5:30 PM Mass, each Wednesday. Invitations went out to UDIA (University Interfaith group) churches to join us.
July-August 2007 - Larry and Perry took the lead to sponsor an Environmental, Multi-Media Dance in July, celebrating the wonders of the earth, and our need to protect the environment. Joe arranged the showing of "Grave of the Fireflies" in August, to commemorate the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Thus began the "Meaningful Movies" nights in the Parish Hall. We expect to show a values-based movie each quarter. Fr. Bernhard gave a talk on abortion in August, sponsored by the St. Gianna society. The text of the talk is available HERE, as a .doc download.
September-October 2007 - St. Gianna conducted a "40 Days for Life Vigil" this Fall, engaged in prayer, fasting, and silent witness. Pan de Vida discussed their future work in Mexico, especially with the orphanages which are doing quite well these days. Pan de Vida decided to postpone its October trip, and opted for a February trip to Morelia, to assist the elderly Madres with their nursing home needs.
November-December 2007 - The parish sponsored a "Catholic Dicipleship Workshop" on Nov 9 and 10. Hosted by Ned Dolejsi. PJ's attended. Lorri presented a discussion on Fair Trade to the High School Religious Education class. Joseph presented the film: "Thou Shalt Not Kill" on November 16th, followed by a discussion on the Death Penalty. Nina gave a presentation on the Death Penalty to the High School class on November 11th. Marilyn represented Blessed Sacrament and the PJ's at the Archdiocese gathering of Social Justice groups in area churches. Nina ordered a copy of "A Humble Walk" DVD, from Catholic Relief Services, for those interested in a two-year volunteer opportunity similar to the Peace Corp, only Catholic. Marilyn was given a copy for Adult Ed or the Aquinas Library. Bernadette and Annette headed up a collection for Heifer International, and collected $ 1,200 from the PJ's email list (only!). This purchased a "milk menagerie" for a struggling community in a developing nation. The Giving Tree (parish-wide) collected $2,000 for the orphanages in Mexico. Gela purchased new clothing for both the boys' and girls' orphanages (and new shoes for the Madres) for Christmas. Marilyn distributed the Archdiocese packet on immigration reform, for PJ review. Nina, Gela, Marilyn and Annette all presented an overview of Blessed Sacrament's Peace and Justice Committee to other congregations in the University District Ecumenical Fellowship. It was well received, and we were very proud of our work!
2008
January-February 2008 - Gela, Nina and Marcia flew to Mexico to assist the Order of the Sacred Heart of the Poor with their struggling nursing facility. Nina ordered "El Norte" and "Stranger No Longer" DVD's for the next "Meaningful Movies" night, on the topic of immigration. Bernadette coordinated confirmation classes and sponsors for inmates being confirmed at the Monroe Reformatory in January. Three of our PJ's volunteered to sponsor an inmate for confirmation. St. Gianna held their annual kick-off meeting, and presented their agenda for 2008 which included an introduction to Pope John Paul II's Gospel of Life and plans as follows - March: Needs Facing Pregnant Women; June: End of Life Issues; August: Medical and Sexual Ethics; October: Theology of the Body for Families.
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